The
meaning of the name Boca Raton has always aroused curiosity.
Many people wrongly assume the name is simply Rat’s Mouth.
The Spanish word boca (or mouth) often described an
inlet, while raton (literally mouse) was used as a term
for a cowardly thief. But the “Thieves Inlet,”
Boca Ratones, appeared on eighteenth century maps associated
with an inlet in the Biscayne Bay area of Miami. By the
beginning of the nineteenth century, the term was mistakenly
applied to Lake Boca Raton, whose inlet was closed at the time.
The “s” and later the “e” were dropped from this title by the
1920s, yet the correct pronunciation remains Rah-tone.
The earliest known inhabitants of
the Boca Raton area were the Tequesta Indians, who lived in
communities near the ocean as long ago as one thousand years
until the eighteenth century. The construction of the Florida
East Coast Canal (today’s Intracoastal) and the Florida East
Coast Railway in the 1890s made the region accessible to a group
of resourceful pioneers. By the early 1900s Boca Raton was a
tiny agricultural community, many of the farmers specializing in
pineapple cultivation. Amongst these were a group of
Japanese immigrants under the leadership of Joseph Sakai, who
formed a community along today’s Yamato Road in 1904.
In May of 1925, the Town of Boca
Raton was incorporated at the height of the Florida land boom.
The town council commissioned noted society architect Addison
Mizner to plan a world-class resort community. His
exclusive hotel, known as the Cloister Inn, was completed in
1926 and continues its reign as a city landmark as the Boca
Raton Resort and Club. Although many of Mizner’s plans for
the young community were squelched by the demise of the land
boom in 1926, a few survive today—and his architectural style
continues to influence the city.
One of Mizner’s projects was a
design for a city hall for Boca Raton. Completed by
Delray architect William Alsmeyer in 1927, Old Town Hall at 71
North Federal Highway still bears the original footprint of the
Mizner design, and was constructed using ironwork, tile, and
woodwork supplied by Mizner Industries. Today the restored
Town Hall is the home of the Boca Raton Historical Society.
In
the 1930s and 40s, Boca was known for its winter vegetable crop,
particularly the green beans which commanded a premium in
northern markets. In 1942, the Army Air Corps established its
only war-time radar training school at the site of what is today
F.A.U. and the Boca Raton Airport. The facility brought over
30,000 servicemen as well as families and civilian employees to
the tiny community of Boca Raton, with a population of 723 in
1940.
In the 1950s, the still small town
played host to a safari park called Africa USA which opened
where the Camino Gardens development stands now. E. G.
Barnhill offered an attraction called Ancient America on the
site of prehistoric burial mounds on U.S. One in the area of
today’s Sanctuary neighborhood. And the Winter Bible
Conference Grounds—Bibletown—was established in buildings of the
former Air Field.
In the 1960s, South Florida
experienced another great land boom, with developments pushing
the Everglades and former farmlands increasingly westward. The
population grew to almost 30,000 residents by 1970, continuing
to increase well outside city limits to this day. In 1962,
Boca Raton attracted the newest state university, Florida
Atlantic, to the site of the old army airbase. IBM
moved one of its computer facilities to Boca Raton in 1967, and
in 1981, it was there the first IBM PC, or personal computer,
was developed.
During the 1980s and
1990s, the city focused much of its attention on downtown
redevelopment, and a number of important historical properties,
such as Boca Raton’s original Town Hall and F.E.C. Railway
Station were restored and opened to the public. Many fine
cultural facilities, such as the Boca Raton Museum of Art, have
grown up to meet the needs of the growing population.
For more History about Boca Raton
you can visit the...
Boca
Raton Historical Society
or the...
Boca Raton Army Air Field
